Dark fantasy goes hardboiled in Book II of the hard-hitting Grimnoir Chronicles by the New York Times best-selling creator of Monster Hunter International. The Grimnoir Society’s mission is to protect people with magic, and they’ve done so—successfully and in secret—since the mysterious arrival of the Power in the 1850s, but when a magical assassin makes an attempt on the life of President Franklin Roosevelt, the crime is pinned on the Grimnoir.

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Publisher's Summary

Audie Award, Paranormal, 2013

Dark fantasy goes hardboiled in Book II of the hard-hitting Grimnoir Chronicles by the New York Times best-selling creator of Monster Hunter International. The Grimnoir Society’s mission is to protect people with magic, and they’ve done so—successfully and in secret—since the mysterious arrival of the Power in the 1850s, but when a magical assassin makes an attempt on the life of President Franklin Roosevelt, the crime is pinned on the Grimnoir. The knights must become fugitives while they attempt to discover who framed them.Thing go from bad to worse when Jake Sullivan, former P.I. and knight of the Grimnoir, receives a telephone call from a dead man—a man he helped kill. Turns out the Power jumped universes because it was fleeing from a predator that eats magic and leaves destroyed worlds in its wake. That predator has just landed on Earth.

When you start the Spellbound series it is like getting hooked on chocolate. You always have to go back for more. The characters are delightful and original; the plot is out of this world. Jake Sullivan, the loyal and moral ex-Con who believes in liberty and freedom is by far my most favorite character.

Each character must confront not only their own truths but their own fears, their own personal demons. Jake becomes the glue that holds the group together when they have to fight their inner demons and the evil in the world. He also is the glue that allows success in the end.

The audio version is hands over fists better than the print version. It is wonderful to sit back and have a talented narrator read to you. Bronson Pinchot is wonderful. Overall: This has become a favorite. The plot is new and fresh and mixes a stark originality with somber far reaching themes. Its as addictive as chocolate.

This was a great installment in the chronicles it was really hard to put this down. If you liked the first novel your not going to be disappointed.However, if you haven't read the first one then you should really pick it up before diving into this one. I'm extremely happy they decided to keep the same narrator Bronson Pinchot is definitely one of the top 3 in the game right now.

I don't think that Larry Correia can write a bad book. Pinchot however, still leaves me cold. Some of the characters that carried over from the last novel did not have the same voice as they did the first time. One that sticks out like a sore thumb is Jane. You'll note in this book that her accent is completely missing and now she all of the sudden sounds like any other American girl. I really wish that Oliver Wyman could have voiced this series as well. He is a better fit for Correia's writing. That said, this is still a fantastic book and I am excited for the next in the series.

This is the second book in a series started with "Hard Magic" and they are both very entertaining books. Larry Correia has made a colorful world full of action and drama, his characters are very likeable, his stories are action packed. In addition Bronson Pinchot is a fantastic narrator, his rendition of Sullivan practically drips with a rich southern molasses.

This book is an action/drama so if you're looking for deep philosophical musings or poetry you might want to look elsewhere, but if you're looking for non-stop fun this is a good one.

I really liked Hard Magic, the first book of The Grimnoir Chronicles, but this book was much better. Where Correia had to spend alot of the first book creating this world, in Spellbound he hits the ground running, and run he does. There are many questions answered, but in the vain of any great serious he leaves you with many more. The worst part about it was that I had to wait for some of my friends to finish it so that I could talk about it without being the spoiler.

'The Spellbound' is great fun. It's the second in a series, so read 'Hard Magic' first. You'll be glad you did.For those who have read and enjoyed 'Hard Magic,' this book is sure to be a treat. Correia seems like he has a ball writing these books. They're not silly (not in the denigrating sense, anyway), but they never take themselves too seriously.The surviving characters from Hard Magic are back, and some intriguing new characters are introduced.Once again, Bronson Pinchot's narration is spot-on. Highly recommended.

What does Bronson Pinchot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he is truly outstanding! the best overall narrator i've heard to date! he brings the characters to life!

Any additional comments?

first things first...after the conclusion of hard magic, i wasn't sure if larry correia could create a villan as powerful or as dreaded as the chairman, but i'm here to tell you that larry successfully crafts another lethal villain with the temerity to directly confront and challenge the grimnoir knights head on!

the events that transpired in hard magic have made the public even more wary of actives. magical opposition groups are organizing, and the gov't is proposing laws that require actives to register themselves. a secretive, new gov't agency is given a blank check to "deal with" the active problem.

enter agent crowe. crowe's mandate is to retrieve a particular grimnoir knight at any cost. crowe is merciless and relentless. he will go to any length to capture his prize, and the grimnoir knights quickly discover he won't stop. his strange and mysterious powers manage to frighten the grimnoir knights. i found crowe to be a worthy villain. he reminded me of agent smith from the 1st matrix movie- crafty, creepy, frightening powerful, relentless.

new characters are introduced, and their backstories are just as intriguing as our original cast. correia easily weaves the new characters into the overarching plot. there is a surprising addition to the grimnoir knights, and his/her inclusion (i won't tell) further fills out the story.

i hesitate to say more b/c i don't want to rob you of discovering a truly rewarding story. spellbound is an excellent continuation of the story and definitely worthy of your time.

This series encompasses more or less everything I love in a book, multiple point of view, multi-layered intense plot,well defined individual characters, no cardboard cut-outs here, its, in a class of it's own mixing multiple genres and coming out with a delicately balanced perfect veritable feast for the imagination.Wonderful, I suggest you read 'Hard magic' first which is just as good..

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

HelgaCabbage

UK

4/19/12

Overall

"Bring On Book 3!"

This is the second book in the Grimnoir Chronicles, after 'Hard Magic'.

If you loved the first book, you won't be disappointed with the second. All our fave characters are back along with some new ones; Grimnoir Knights, Imperium Guards, and a new sinister government organisation.

I was as completely enthralled by this as the first book, and some of the characters surprised me with how much I liked them - I would never have thought I could start rooting for an Iron Guard!

There were a lot of laugh out loud moments, especially any scene with Heimrich, who aside from Fay and Sullivan, is easily my favourite character.

I wasn't keen on the idea of a spirit phone communicating with the deceased Chairman (this happens very early on, so not really a spoiler), but in a story that involves teleporting, mind control, human lie detectors, gravity spikers, healers, and an alien magical entity (among other things), it's perhaps a little churlish of me to have a problem with communicating with the dead.

My only other issue is that of the sole English character being portrayed as the stuck-in-the-eighteenth-century, toffee-nosed, upper-class, authority-without-a-clue figure. As an English person, I found it a little wearing to be met with this cliché yet again, but since he was only in the story for about two minutes I got over it quickly - just hope this isn't a recurring theme for Correia.

If you like supernatural action, comedy, adventure, and anything with elements of superheroes, you will not be disappointed purchasing 'Hard Magic' and 'Spellbound'.

Fast paced, intelligent, with a lot of humour and thoroughly enjoyable smart-ass comments from our Grimnoir Knights, I loved this story, and I know I will listen to it often.

The story is told from the omniscient perspective, hopping in and out of all the different characters' thoughts, and the narration is spot on, thoughts more subtle than dialogue, and it is always clear who is thinking or speaking.

Bring on Book 3!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

J. A. Gibson

Blighty

4/25/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Cannot wait"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A rip roaring ride picking up where the first book left off.

Which character – as performed by Bronson Pinchot – was your favourite?

Heinrich (not sure of the spelling) is a wonderfully dry character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes but stretched it to two days

Any additional comments?

I ploughed through the first book and loved it. Brought to mind a slightly grittier series akin to the decoder ring theatre style of noir with banter between the characters carrying well. This was a natural choice to read after the first book as i had to know how it ended. Now i need to wait until next month for the third instalment.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Anastasia

Colchester, United Kingdom

6/21/12

Overall

"Astounding."

I can't stress enough how much I love this series! Imagine a sort of steampunk X-men/Watchmen with magic and tommy-guns and characters that you genuinely feel for and some absolutely fantastic narration.

Spellbound is the second book in the Grimnoir Chronicles series, an urban fantasy set in 1940s America with an alternate history and steampunk elements. It isn't overdone; everyone isn't walking about with clockwork parasols, but there are airships and historical figures and events referenced briefly to help the reader understand how the emergence of magic has shaped this reality.

The Grimnoir Chronicles world combines a fantastic, original superpower-based individual magic (one power per person, with the powers mostly identified and classified i.e. "Heavy" - someone who manipulates gravity, "Fade" - someone who phases through solid matter, etc.) with a more traditional rune-based magic, and even a few sci-fi elements. It isn't difficult to follow but is wonderfully detailed and immersive, and brought alive by characters who are all very distinct and different and complement one another brilliantly. I found all of the 'good guy' characters very likeable and cared about what happened to them very early on. There are none of the irritating shallow stereotypes seen a lot in fantasy, and the plot managed to surprise me as the characters thought of ingenious solutions I hadn't considered.

To top it all, Bronson Pinchot does a masterful job of the narration, capturing all of the characters perfectly and bringing across a very strong voice to each character's observations even though the book is written in 3rd person. It changes from person to place, speech to thought very quickly and Bronson never leaves you in any doubt as to who is speaking or what is happening.

The only criticism I have is that there's no release date yet for book 3.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

David

LICHFIELD, United Kingdom

4/13/13

Overall

"Sci-Fi Noir"

Interesting idea lots of action and once you start listening, you need to listen more. Think with film making today it could be a nice film

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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